Kurt Dolson, physics teacher at Plainfield East High School, will be spending the 2025-26 school year exploring a new part of the world while taking a leave of absence.
Dolson will be temporarily moving to Australia before returning to teach at East. He plans on continuing education in the new environment and embracing the new way of life.
“I’m really excited just to see the different culture kind of surrounding, not only just education but just their lifestyle. A lot of people compare us to Australia,” said Dolson, “They say Australia is like a mini version of the United States in a way, but they also have socialized healthcare, and other things that I value politically [and] also morally. I’m kind of excited to see how that fits in with their society.”
Australia’s politics consistently lean much further left than the United States, promoting things like universal healthcare and stricter gun laws. The difference in policies is especially evident within schools.
“I’m excited to see what zero-gun-violence schools look like. One of the main pushes, to be honest, was I wanted to see how they deal with schools without having to do emergency drills twice a year and having our police officer tell me to be ready to be shot at every morning I walk into work,” said Dolson. “Those are things that kind of push me away from education. I’ve been in school since Sandy Hook, and it’s just gotten worse and worse every year, so I’m kind of excited to see the flip side of that in another country.”
Even with all of the excitement to check out the new country, there are still certain things back in the U.S. that Dolson admits he will be missing. On top of family, American culture has always been the norm for him.
“I’m probably going to miss a little bit of the familiarity. I kind of know what to expect when I go into social situations,” said Dolson. “As an autistic person, it’s already difficult as it is, and so now I’m going to a place where rugby is now the thing you talk about instead of basketball and football. Just that shift, as small as it might be, might be pretty big for my social battery.”
Like most things in life, no matter how much research or preparation is conducted, one cannot truly know how to navigate a new culture and environment until they experience it first hand.
“We’ve looked into a couple things, but you’re not going to know until you’re there,” said Dolson. “ I’ve done enough traveling in my life to know you can research stuff, but you’re really not gonna know until you get your feet on the ground and you’re interacting with the people.”
Getting to know the land down under will be a challenge, but broadening horizons at the international level will be sure to pay off.
